By EMS1 Staff
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. — What if you could locate the nearest CPR-trained individual during a cardiac emergency? Well, there’s an app for that.
Prince George’s County Fire and EMS department recently launched PulsePoint, an app that is designed to connect CPR-trained users to cardiac emergencies nearby.
The app is wired into the county’s 911 dispatch system. When someone reports a cardiac arrest, the app alerts users in the area to that location. It also locates the closest public defibrillator, the Washington Post reported.
“Improving the outcome of these incidents is well within our reach,” Chief Marc Bashoor said. “The life you save tonight might be next door.”
Over the last year, more than 1,000 people have suffered sudden cardiac arrest in the county, with almost 90 percent of them ending in death. Chief Bashoor said that a neighboring county has seen a 60 percent increase in survival rates since using the app.
The county’s EMS Division Commander, Brian Frankel, said a victim’s chance of survival decreases at least 7 percent for every minute that passes before CPR is administered.
“It takes mere seconds to learn,” Frankel said. “And could mean the difference between survival and death.”
Although the technology cost the county around $30,000, a nonprofit has covered the expense; it will cost $18,000 a year to maintain.